Eastern Illinois (30-18, 10-11 OVC) vs. Southeast Missouri (26-26, 14-7 OVC)

Dates: Thursday, May 18 | Friday, May 19 | Saturday, May 20
Times: 6 p.m., CT. | 6 p.m., CT. | 2 p.m., CT.  
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo. 
Facility: Capaha Field 
Series: SEMO leads 44-40
Head Coaches: Andy Sawyers (268-193 overall; 181-166 at SEMO; 95-70 OVC). | Jason Anderson (181-202 at EIU)

Follow the Redhawks
Radio: ESPN 93.5 FM & 1220 AM (Erik Sean) 
Watch: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Live Stats: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Twitter: @SEMObaseball 

Redhawks Return Home to Conclude 2023 Regular Season with Series Against Eastern Illinois
Southeast Missouri (26-26, 14-7 OVC) will host the Eastern Illinois Panthers (30-18, 10-11 OVC) in the final regular season Ohio Valley Conference matchup of the season. The series will begin on Thursday, May 18 beginning at 6 p.m., CT. Friday's matchup will begin at 6 p.m., as well, with Saturday's season finale slated for 2 p.m., CT. all from Capaha Field in Cape Girardeau, Mo. 

A Series of Promotions at Capaha Field
In the final homestand of the season, SEMO athletics has big things planned for the fans during each game. 

Thursday evening's game will feature 'Kids Day' at Capaha Field. Kids activities will be held on the concourse during the game and will conclude with an opportunity to run the bases following the conclusion of the ballgame. 

Friday night is 'Rev Up with the Redhawks' sponsored by Lawless Harley Davidson in Scott City. Motorcycles will be on display on gameday and will rev their engines prior to the first pitch.  

Saturday's season finale will feature 'Boy Band Day'. Fans will receive a free Boy Band themed tank top (while supplies last) courtesy of Burritoville in Cape Girardeau. 

What's at Stake
Southeast Missouri is still in the hunt for this year's Ohio Valley Conference regular-season title. If SEMO sweeps Eastern Illinois and either Little Rock or Morehead State win twice, it will win the OVC regular-season title outright and earn the top seed in next week's tournament. If SEMO and Morehead State both sweep, they will share the OVC regular-season crown and the Eagles will get the #1 seed based on their series win over the Redhawks. 

Senior Day
Saturday will be the final home game at Capaha Field for eight Redhawk seniors. A senior day ceremony will take place prior to the start of the game. 

Series History
The Redhawks and Panthers will meet for the 85^th time on Thursday evening as these two programs closed the 2022 season against each other in Charleston, Ill. 

The Panthers took two-out-of-three from the Redhawks to conclude the season, including a 5-1 victory in the final game. 

SEMO holds the all-time series lead by a mark of 44-40. 

Last Time Out 
SEMO was last in action this past weekend in Martin, Tenn. To take on UT Martin for a pivotal three-game series in the Ohio Valley Conference. 

The Redhawks dropped all three games of the series by just a total of five runs. 

Game one featured a 9-8 defeat as the Redhawks were unable to get a run across in the ninth, after getting a run in the seventh and eighth off the bats off Josh Cameron and Danny Sperling, respectively. 

LHP Noah Niznik (6-5) took the loss in the contest striking out five over 4.2 innings pitched. 

Josh Cameron finished going 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs to lead the Redhawks offense in game one. 

Game two resulted in a 7-4 defeat as a three-run home run in the Skyhawks' fourth inning proved to be the difference. 

Center fielder Brett Graber got the Redhawks on the board first with an RBI single to center field to plate the game's first run for SEMO. 

Danny Sperling continued the momentum with another RBI single, this one to center field as well. 

The Redhawks would tie it at four in the top of the fourth inning on back-to-back home runs by Jevon Mason and Peyton Leeper. 

RHP Collin Wilma had a nice outing out of the bullpen for SEMO. Wilma pitched 4.2 innings allowing no runs on five hits in relief.

Game three resulted in a 5-4, walk-off loss for the Redhawks as UTM used an RBI-double to complete the series sweep. 

Trailing 4-3 in the top of the ninth, pinch hitter Gunnar Doyle hit his first home run of the season to tie it at four heading to the bottom of the ninth.

The Redhawks offense struggled to get much going, registering just five hits on the afternoon. 

Lincoln Andrews and Ben Palmer each recorded a sacrifice-fly RBI in the contest to keep the Redhawks within reach of UTM, but the Skyhawks prevailed. 

Final Week Scenarios
Here is how the Ohio Valley Conference looks entering the final week of the season and how the week can shake down based on conference standings and seeding(s) for the 2023 conference tournament: 

This Week's Schedule
Little Rock at Morehead State            SIUE at Lindenwood   EIU at SEMO    USI at TTU

What We Know
Little Rock, Morehead State, SEMO and UT Martin will be the Top 4 seeds in some order.

Tiebreakers
If Morehead State and Southeast Missouri are tied …
            MSU won the season series 2-1 and would be the higher seed.
 
If Morehead State and UT Martin are tied at 14-10 (assumes MSU gets swept) …
            UTM won season series 2-1 and would be the higher seed.
 
If Southeast Missouri and UT Martin are tied at 14-10 (assumes SEMO gets swept) …
            UTM won the season series 3-0 and would be the higher seed.
 
If Morehead State, Southeast Missouri and UT Martin are tied at 14-10 (assumes MSU & SEMO lose out) …
            UTM: 5-1         MOR: 3-3        SEMO: 1-5

If Eastern Illinois and Tennessee Tech are tied  …
            EIU won the season series 2-1 and would be the higher seed.
 
If SIUE and Tennessee Tech are tied …
            TTU won the season series 3-0 and would be the higher seed.
 
If Eastern Illinois, SIUE and Tennessee Tech are tied at 10-14 … 
            TTU: 4-2                      SIUE: 3-3         EIU: 2-4
 
If Lindenwood and Tennessee Tech are tied …
            Lindenwood won the season series 2-1 and would be the higher seed.
 
Scouting the Opponent
Panthers
Eastern Illinois comes into the final week of the season on a four-game winning streak, having most recently defeated Western Illinois, 9-3. Prior to that, the Panthers picked up a sweep of Lindenwood in St. Charles, Mo. 

EIU is currently 30-18 overall with a 10-11 mark in the Ohio Valley Conference. 

Ryan Ignoffo is the Panthers top-hitter with 14 home runs on the season, including 52 RBIs, and a .344 batting average. Ignoffo is first on the team with two triples and tied for second with 10 doubles on the campaign. 

Lincoln Riley and Kolten Poorman have 32 and 36 RBIs, respectively, rounding out the top-three run producers in the EIU lineup. 

Zane Robbins, Jackson Nichols, and Nick Laxner headline the EIU pitching staff as the three are a combined 10-2 on the season. 

Robbins is 3-1 on the season with a 1.54 ERA over 23.1 innings of work. He has struck out 36 opposing batters as opponents are hitting just .186 off him. 

Nichols supports a 3-0 record with a 1.82 ERA. He has pitched 34.2 innings on the season, striking out 20. Opponents are hitting .224 off Nichols this season. 

Laxner sits at 4-1 on the season with a 3.83 ERA and is tied with Robbins at 36 strikeouts. Laxner has pitched 47.0 innings on the season with teams hitting just .275 off of him.